Zucchini Berry Muffins and Morning Power Smoothie

As my challenge is over, of course I allow myself to indulge in little sweet pleasures, but my taste and attitude changed a lot. Even if I want to have a dessert, I also want to be it as nutritious as possible and better with no sugar added, except from fruits. So, I was searching for some recipe and I could not be more happy when I found Zucchini muffin recipe. I am fascinated about idea of hiding vegetables in foods where you don’t expect to find them(muffins, pizza crust, pies, etc.)  I took this recipe from http://www.paleoplan.com and slightly changed (in the original recipe they were having tapioca flour, but I did not have it, so just did not put it):

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour (check the consistence if you will need to add more. I put 1 cup, but the dough was too dry, then I had to increase eggs)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 Tbs cinnamon
• 1 Tbs allspice
• 1 cup dates, pitted
• 3 ripe bananas
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 10-oz bag frozen berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries) OR 1 1/4 cup fresh berries
• ¾ cup zucchini, grated
• ¾ cup almonds, finely chopped
• muffin paper liners

Instructions

1. Take berries out of freezer to thaw, if applicable.
2. Preheat oven to 350℉.
3. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice.
4. In a food processor, combine dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and oil.
5. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and blend until completely combined.
6. Finely grate zucchini (or food process it).
7. Fold in berries, zucchini and almonds.
8. Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins.
9. Bake at 350° for 25 – 35 minutes.

It reminds me a bit of my traditional morning smoothie:

• Mixed Berries (raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)
• 1/3 banana
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• water (depending on how thick you want your smoothie to be)
• few stalks of kale (love the idea of putting nutrition dense greens in smoothies, plus you would not make a difference)
• 1 pastured egg
• 1 tsp of almond butter

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